Festivities must not damage our environment

Environment and pollution as issues do raise improbable heat in a democracy. Thus, it is in Delhi these days. The capital has been crowned as the most polluted city in the world. The level of pollution has reached a point referred to as hazardous, and been especially detrimental in the days following the festival of Diwali. On the night of Diwali in Delhi, PM10 ranged from 448g/m3 to 939g/m3 as against the national safe standard of 100g/m3. To understand the causes of pollution in the city is essential to reduce the levels that it has been allowed to reach. The air and noise pollutions have direct consequences on the health of the most vulnerable, including children and women. A large section of the civil society has been calling for renewal of public transport services as a panacea to the persistent problem. The Government must take appropriate steps immediately and get rid of the shameful tag that the city has been marked with. Thus, the Delhi Government must realise that pollution as a problem is above politicking and partisan politics. If they require the support and expertise from the Centre, they ought to be forthright. This is the time for the Government to stand up for the people of the city. It is not merely power and political bonhomie that is at stake here but health and consequently the well-being of the most vulnerable among the citizen. The Government must realise that good health is a human right. Therefore, it is their constitutional responsibility to safeguard citizens' health. If they fail to act now, they would be failing not only the citizens that have reposed confidence in them but also their constitutional duty and above all moral obligation to act for the welfare of the citizenry. Civil society and the Centre should be readily available to provide all knowhow and technical capability that the Delhi Government will need to reduce the dangerous levels of pollution in the city. To simply blame it on State-Centre relationship has become a tiring excuse. Citizens of Delhi want efficient and intelligent action and sooner this can be done better it should be for all. If the subject is beyond the mandate and more importantly capacity of the city Government to tackle, it ought to made amply clear. Thus, Centre then can take the necessary steps and be made accountable hence.

It is high time that the Governments are made accountable. And vis-à-vis air and noise pollutions, it must either be the State or the Centre that ought to act. Elections are one form of accountability a democratic system provides, but equally significant are checks and balances that other branches provide. The point here is not to support judicial activism in any way but to merely direct the attention of the judiciary and the legislature to take into serious consideration the abysmal condition of the city’s air. The levels of pollution have reached a stage whereby they can permanently damage the respiratory system. Citizens of Delhi, and indeed of the rest of the country, need timely action.